By a river, near clear water
where the trout escape dangling hooks
and squirming worms
stands a willow tree.
Solitary and lonesome
in the summer and spring
shrouding itself in a curtain
of draped leaves
emerald and viridian.
Autumn rolls in
and in a tumble of sepia tinted leaves
that one branch
gnarled and wizened
into a hoop
is revealed
and by the riverside
in autumnal swirls
impromptu games of basketball
blossom and flower
by the river.
Just don’t land the ball in the water.
The trout can’t pass it back.
~~~
On a hill top there is
a cluster of peach trees
but only one of them
has a hoop shaped branch
trailing leaves hang from the rim.
When ripe
the peaches tumble down
the lucky few pass through the
hoop, onto the court of fragrant petals
before autumn and winter end the game.
Leaves fall from the rim
in a tumble of sepia and gold
and the trees and peaches wait until
spring and summer
for the re-leafing of the hoop shaped branch.
~~~
Brought on by this:
and a sports blog (for the Atlanta Hawks) called Peach Tree Hoops (http://www.peachtreehoops.com/).
I am not a basketball fan though. Think I should be though.
Golden Giraffes Riding Scarlet Flamingos Through The Desert of Forever 
I love this! “The trout can’t pass it back” totally cracked me up.
Thank you for the comment.
If it weren’t for fins (and the inability to breathe oxygen) I feel trout could play basketball. At least moderately well.
Wow, you made B-ball sound pretty. All the fellas in my family are basketball people, and you know I never thought to put basketball and poetry together. I love the contrast though. There’s humor and beauty in your phrasing, but the game itself is sweaty competitive and can bring out the ugly in folks. It’s now about money too much, and the egos are ridiculous. So I’m thinking it’s not something one needs to like, there are many other wonderful things in the world to be enamored over.
But if you like it for the fun, there’s the rubber finger and the music. I love when they play “We will rock you” at a game. In Jr. High we used to sit on the bleachers sing and stomp our feet.
That maybe true, but watching that video there is a certain artistry to the game. The arc of a dunk is a beautiful thing.
I do take your point though. The fans are awesome though, particularly in college. I would love to be in an atmosphere like that.
Best thing about these is the fact they came on randomly and were kind of scribbled down. Nice to see them turn out well (ish).
Interesting abstraction of basketball into a nature-based frame. Really enjoyed this: imaginative, creative and very well written.
I like it when things that are somewhat scribbled down turn out some what alright.
Basketball is poetry in motion…
After watching that video yeah, I can get with that.